Step four: Invite your parents' participation with more
emotional details. They may feel like your wedding plans are a runaway
train. They may feel like you got engaged out of the blue, are
furiously planning a big gay wedding (and they don't know what a gay wedding looks or feels like) and they’re left at the station wondering what the heck just happened.

I believe that excitement is contagious. If you are excited about your
wedding, eventually your parents will be. Now is the time to recruit them to be actively involved
– and if you are a bride who wants to wear a dress, there is no greater
opportunity than dress shopping with your mother. If you are not
wearing a dress or are a gay groom, ask for their help on choosing
someone to do a reading during the wedding ceremony or ask your mom
about her favorite flower or cake flavor. Invite their input and get
excited over their responses.

This is the step where Jen’s parents boarded the Coveney-Smith wedding
train. Jen’s mom came to town and they went dress shopping. Jen
started talking about the bridal shower. During her visit, Jen's mom
visited the place where we were to marry and loved it. And when she
went back home, she was filled with excitement and then Jen’s dad got
excited - because it's contagious.